Odishatv Bureau
Mumbai: Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano on Monday made a pitch for nuclear power access to developing nations, even as he called for uniform responsibility to prevent nuclear proliferation.

“Many countries are considering introducing nuclear power are in the developing world and I welcome this. It should be available to developing countries and they have the same right as developed countries to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and the same responsibility both to ensure the highest safety standards and to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists,” he said.

Mr. Amano was speaking here after inaugurating the 21st Annual Conference of the Indian Nuclear society on ‘Impact of Radiation Technology on Human health and Environment.’

Mr. Amano said all countries of the world have an equal responsibility to work to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and access to nuclear power should not be limited to developed nations.

The IAEA expects between 10-25 new countries to bring their first nuclear plant on-line by 2030 and the centre of growth is in Asia. Major expansions in existing nuclear power programmes are planned in India as well as in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, he said.

“Out of the 61 nuclear reactors under construction, 39 are in Asia,” he said.

Mr. Amano also said India’s economic dynamism in the past two decades has given hope to many developing countries.

“In the field of peaceful nuclear technology, India’s success was the result of detailed long-term planning and the accumulation of home-grown expertise through high-quality education and training,” he said.

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